3 Favourite Relationships (Romantic):

3 Favourite Relationships (Platonic):

Citra & Scythe Curie (Thunderhead)

Granny, Nanny & Magrat (Lords and Ladies)

Alice & Ella (The Hazel Wood)

To Be Brief…

Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe #2): What can I say, if you liked Scythe, you’ll like this one as well, because this series is only getting better and better. Shusterman’s work never fails to be thought-provoking, and his characters suffer like no other. Have fun!5/5 stars

“Marie, if we were judged by the things we most regret, no human being would be worthy to sweep the floor.”

The Belles (The Belles #1): Sadly, I found The Belles kind of underwhelming. The overall concept was pretty cool, the writing really managed to set the mood for the book, and it had diversity, which is nice, but I just wasn’t that interested in the story or the characters. Not a bad book by any means, but at this point I’m not sure I’ll pick up the sequel. 3.5/5 stars

“You can never be clean enough, pretty enough, or smart enough.”

The Prince and the Dressmaker: This is one of the most adorable, heartwarming, lovely, and charming things I’ve ever set my eyes on. A must if you’re looking for a short and sweet graphic novel! 5/5 stars

“It’s weird, I don’t feel like Prince Sebastian could lead a nation into battle, but Lady Crystallia could.”

Lords and Ladies (Discworld #14): Another great and hilarious book about everybody’s favourite witches! If you’ve never read anything by Terry Pratchett, I highly suggest you do it as soon as humanly possible. 4/5 stars

“You couldn’t set out to be a good witch or a bad witch. It never worked for long. All you could try to be was a witch, as hard as you could.”

The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood #1): This was a difficult book to rate, mostly, I think, because it has so many different elements and aspects to it. Liking the first half of the book won’t necessarily mean you’ll like the rest. I for one really enjoyed the middle, but the first and last thirds didn’t quite do it for me. The creepy short stories were actually my favourite parts (which is very unusual for me), and I wish the rest of the book had given me the same feeling. I’ve seen people comparing this to The Raven Cycle, but that’s doing them both a disservice in my opinion. Just try not to expect this book to be something it isn’t. 3.5/5 stars

“Maybe it’s a test,” he said. “Like, only the true of heart can find their way in. That would be classic.” “The true of heart? Guess I’m out of luck.”

3 Favourite Relationships (Romantic):

3 Favourite Relationships (Platonic):

Flora & her brothers (The Endless Beach)

Jude & her sisters (The Folk of the Air)

Iko & co (Wires and Nerve)

To Be Brief…

Soulless: The Manga (Vol. 2 and Vol. 3): I’ve really had fun experiencing the Parasol Protectorate series in this format, so it’s unfortunate they’ll never adapt the last two books. That’s life, though, I guess.4/5 stars

“Wasn’t me…”

Love, Life, and the List: Since I wasn’t a huge fan of the last book I read by Kasie West, I picked this up with some hesitation, but I’m happy to inform you that I really enjoyed it. It was cute and funny, and I really felt for the main character (at one point I wanted to kick some ass on her behalf!). The relationship between Abby and Cooper felt genuine, and I rooted for them throughout the whole book. If it were up to me, I’d have changed a few things about the writing, but other than that I don’t have much to complain about. It’s pretty much your typical stay-up-reading-because-it’s-so-darn-cute contemporary. 4/5 stars

“Nobody else’s opinions about your art are going to matter until yours does.”

The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1): Twisty, dark, and violent, but it’s Holly Black, so what did you expect? This one’s full of untrustworthy, but interesting characters, beautiful, but dangerous faeries, and some good ol’ I-hate-you-but-also-kind-of-want-to-jump-you tension (*intense eyebrow wiggling*). I very much enjoyed it, and the ending sure left me craving more. 4.5/5 stars

“Our lives are the only real thing we have, our only coin. We get to buy what we want with them.”

Tithe and Ironside (Modern Faerie Tales #1 and #3):Needing more faeries in my life, I decided to pick up this series as well. In my opinion, it was pretty okay and somewhat entertaining, but you can definitely tell that Holly Black has improved as an author since 2002. However, despite not exactly loving this series, I’m still glad I picked it up. Why? Well, you see, I actually tried reading Tithe about 10 years ago (when I was 11!), but obviously didn’t get far. So yes, finally finishing it now felt pretty darn satisfying. Oh, and I’m aware that there is a book in between these two. I’m usually not in the habit of skipping books, but I knew #2 would follow a different set of characters, and I just wasn’t that interested. 3/5 and 3.5/5 stars

“You can break a thing, but you cannot always guide it afterward into the shape you want.”

Wires and Nerve Vol. 2: Gone Rogue: No matter what, these characters always get me in a good mood. If you liked the first volume, you will most likely enjoy this one as well. 4/5 stars

“When you make a joke that’s funny, I’ll consider laughing at it.”

The Endless Beach (The Summer Seaside Kitchen #2): I had no idea Jenny Colgan was writing a sequel to Flora’s story until I happened upon it at the train station a few days ago, but I’m very pleased she did! While reading about Mure and its tight-knit group of inhabitants, one can almost not help but wish all books took place on a small, Scottish island. Perfect if you’re looking for a cozy and atmospheric read, full of food and romance. You can technically read this without having picked up the first one, but I honestly don’t recommend doing it that way. 4/5 stars

“My greatest wish for humanity is not for peace or comfort or joy. It is that we all still die a little inside every time we witness the death of another. For only the pain of empathy will keep us human. There’s no version of God that can help us if we ever lose that.”

9. Nowhere Near You by Leah Thomas

I love this little book and all its blunderkids. It will forever sadden me that we’ll probably never get a third book.

6. Release by Patrick Ness

“It was so much easier to be loved than to have to do any of the desperate work of loving.”

5. All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater

All the Crooked Saints is a strange little book about people getting rid off all the heavy stuff they carry around with them. It has cars and owls in it, and I think you should give it a try because it’s beautiful.

4. Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel

“Scientists are like children: They always want to know everything, they all ask too many questions, and they never follow orders to the letter.”

3. The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan

I never thought I’d say this, but right now I’m actually more invested and interested in Magnus and his friends than Percy and Annabeth. I know, crazy right? I’m so sad the trilogy is over, and I reaaally hope Rick will write more books about the Norse mythology gang in the future.

1. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

“Patience and Silence had one beautiful daughter. And her name was Vengeance.”

And that, my friends, was all. It was in no way an easy task for me to put together this list, but I’m very happy with my choices. It probably goes without saying, but I think you should check them all out. :)

3 Favourite Relationships (Romantic):

3 Favourite Relationships (Platonic):

Vasya Petrovna & Solovey (The Winternight Trilogy)

Lila Bard & Alucard Emery (A Conjuring of Light)

Starr & her family (The Hate U Give)

To Be Brief…

The Handmaid’s Tale: Believe it or not, until this month, I was unaware of the greatness of The Handmaid’s Tale TV-series. I know, I’m super late to the party, but let me assure you that I more than made up for it by watching the entire first season in one sitting. Afterwards, I firmly decided not to read the book, but as you can see, I ended up doing it anyway. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I did, but as predicted, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. It’s difficult for me to say what I would have thought about the book under different circumstances, but I can tell you that no matter what format, it’s a very thought-provoking and horrifying story that you should check out. Trigger warning for rape, though3.5/5 stars

“Don’t let the bastards grind you down.”

Roomies: A fun adult contemporary romance about two people getting married for the sake of a green card. For me, the book got off to a pretty rocky start, and I seriously considered DNFing it for a second. Something about the writing just rubbed me the wrong way, I guess, but I powered through, and about a quarter in I was hooked. It ended up being quite an enjoyable read, and if you — like me — are a sucker for the whole fake dating/marriage trope, then you might like this book. 3.5/5 stars

“You married a man you met on the subway? Does your mother know?”

A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3): It took me about 10 months to get past the first 100 pages of this book, which usually isn’t a particularly good sign. I managed to get myself together and finish it before the end of the year, though, and actually kind of loved it. A great ending to the trilogy! 4.5/5 stars

“Lila smiled at that, one of those smiles that made Kell profoundly nervous. The kind of smile usually followed by a weapon.”

The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower (The Winternight Trilogy #1 and #2):A lovely and atmospheric story full of Russian folklore and flawed yet lovable characters. It’s very winter-appropriate, and I highly recommend cuddling up with it in January if you haven’t picked it up already. Fans of Uprooted will probably like this trilogy as well. PS. It has talking horses and cross-dressing! 4.5/5 stars

“Sleep is cousin to death, Vasya,” he murmured over her head. “And both are mine.”

The Hate U Give: I’m very glad that I got to this one before the end of the year. It definitely deserves all the hype, and I highly recommend it! 4.5/5 stars

“Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right.”

An Enchantment of Ravens: When picking this up, I was looking for something romance driven, and on that account it did deliver. However, the book is only 300 pages long, and I think it suffered for it. I liked the concept, but the story and world just wasn’t fleshed out enough, and even though the relationship between the two main characters developed over the course of several weeks, it felt like insta love because of how it was executed. In the end, I just wasn’t particularly impressed. 3/5 stars

“If you must stare at something for hours on end, I’d prefer it to be me alone.”

Daughter of the Pirate King (Daughter of the Pirate King #1): This was such a fun and entertaining book! It may not be perfect and some parts bothered me a bit, but honestly, who can resist pirates? 4/5 stars

“Don’t mind me,” he says through quickened breaths. “I’m only bleeding to death.”

And that was the last wrap-up of the year! I must say that I’m very pleased with my reading in December, and it feels good to end 2017 this way. :) If it’s any indication of how 2018 will be, then I’ll be happy.

It’s been a while since my last book haul (almost seven months to be more precise), and a few things have happened since then. I’ve moved to a new apartment for example, and — perhaps somewhat more important in the context of this post — I’ve bought nine new (beautiful) books! My bookshelf has never looked prettier.

But now on to the books!

I’m not gonna lie, I definitely considered getting all four houses of the special 20th anniversary edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. However, I do already own three other copies (seven in total kind of feels like overkill), so I managed to restrain myself and only got the Hufflepuff one. Don’t be too surprised if I end up getting Ravenclaw anyway, though…

I’m weak.

Since they’re a bit pricey, I wasn’t sure I was going to get Sleeping Giants and Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel, but holy shit just look at them! I can’t be expected to resist beauty like this. Whoever designed these, I thank you.

Oh, and the books themselves are great as well, you should read them. If you need more convincing, go check out my September wrap-up.

It should surprise no one that Maggie Stiefvater’s new standalone All the Crooked Saints is now in my possession. She is one of my favourite authors after all, and did not disappoint with this little weirdo.

As usual, I preordered this beauty from fountain bookstore, meaning it came with a signed book-plate and a little doodle. :) My collection is growing.

And look at this! I actually didn’t quite expect them to publish The Well of Ascension in this edition, but I’m over the moon that they did. Now please, please, please give me The Hero of Ages as well!

I have been anticipating The Ship of the Dead ever since I read The Hammer of Thor and, as expected, loved it a lot! If Rick Riordan doesn’t return to these characters, I will be so sad.

Last but not least, of course I also got my hands on this beautiful beast! I have said it before and will probably keep on saying it forever: Jim Kay is the best and I live for his illustrations!

And that was all! I hope you enjoyed looking at these lovelies; I know I do. :)

3 Favourite Relationships (Romantic):

3 Favourite Relationships (Platonic):

Sketch’s team (Renegades)

The Soria family (All the Crooked Saints)

The Peskin-Suso family (The Upside of Unrequited)

To Be Brief…

Romancing the Werewolf (Supernatural Society #2): A fun little novella for fans of The Parasol Protectorate series (and fans of Lyall and Biffy in particular). I guess you could technically read it without picking up the other books first, but I honestly wouldn’t recommend it. 3.5/5 stars

“At least I am a werewolf with style. And I can bloody well pick out curtains!”

Renegades (Renegades #1): I really enjoyed this superhero book from Marissa Meyer. :) Though I do love her previous work, it’s nice to see her step away from the fairy tale retellings for a second and try something different. Superheroes may not be a particularly new concept, but I like Meyer’s take on them. The powers were original and fun, and the whole hero/villain dynamic was quite interesting. I’m looking forward to the sequel! 4/5 stars

“Villains,” Oscar said. “Doing villainous things.”

Into the Bright Unknown (The Gold Seer Trilogy #3): I think this was a very nice ending to the trilogy. In my opinion, the whole series has been pretty solid, and though it perhaps doesn’t qualify as one of my favourites, I do recommend it. 4/5 stars

“There’s always robbery.”

All the Crooked Saints: I adored this! Like all Maggie’s books, this was gorgeously written and very character driven, but it was much heavier on the magical realism than her previous novels. I think anyone who has ever read anything with magical realism elements in it will agree that it’s quite a weird little genre, and since All the Crooked Saints is written by a certain Stiefvater, it’s a bit weirder than usual. It’s not for everyone, but it most definitely was for me! 5/5 stars

“We almost always can point to that hundredth blow, but we don’t always mark the ninety-nine other things that happen before we change.”

The Upside of Unrequited: Becky Albertalli returns with another adorable contemporary! This was so sweet, funny, and relatable, but also covered some more serious topics. I will definitely pick up whatever Becky writes next. 4/5 stars

“But I guess that’s the thing about being seventeen. You never know what you’ll do until you do it.”

November was a bit weird for me reading-wise. For the first three weeks I barely touched a book, and then finished four the last one. It’s just like that sometimes, I guess. :)

I still can’t quite belive 2017 is almost over, but I’m ready, and I hope you all have a nice December!

3 Favourite Relationships (Romantic):

3 Favourite Relationships (Platonic):

The Big Banana Crew (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard)

June & Hannah (A Million Junes)

Anne & Phil (Anne of Green Gables)

To Be Brief…

The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #3):If you in any way enjoyed the previous books in the series, I’m pretty sure you won’t be disappointed by this one. All the characters are my children and I love them. 5/5 stars

“You’re a strange person.” “I prefer the term fabulously weird.”

The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles #1): This was to me a pretty okay read. It had some entertaining moments and an interesting premise, but I feel like I’d probably have enjoyed it more a few years ago. The love triangle aspect of the story wasn’t quite as prominent as I expected, which was a pleasant surprise, but I suspect that will change in the next two books unfortunately. I might or might not continue on with the series, but to be frank, my level of investment in the story isn’t particularly high, so it’s probably unlikely. 3/5 stars

“There were two ways to approach the inevitable — being dragged to meet your fate or taking the offensive.”

Call Me by Your Name: I’m very conflicted about this one. It’s about a 17-year-old boy and his budding romance with Oliver, a summer guest at his parents’ house. It takes place in Italy during the 80s, and I did like it for the most part. It is very honest and raw, and the writing is quite beautiful (though pretentious). Thing is, perhaps it was a bit too honest for me. I mean, I can’t be the only one who thought the toilet thing was really weird, right (and, you know, the peach scene)? I also found it a bit slow, even though it was only 256 pages (the book party section was unnecessarily long in my opinion). Still, I’m very curious about the movie, and will most definitely be watching it at some point. Oh, and it’s probably good to know that this is very sexual since it may seem like YA. 3.5/5 stars

“He came. He left. Nothing else had changed. I had not changed. The world hadn’t changed. Yet nothing would be the same.”

A Million Junes: This is quite an atmospheric and beautiful little story, full of generational drama, lovely friendships, and magical realism elements. Think Romeo and Juliet with some Riverdale vibes, but replace the teenage suicide with magical houses and shoe stealing coywolves. I would say that the overall feeling of the book is pretty dark, but this didn’t stop it from also being really funny. The chemistry between June and Saul was fantastic, which I do think is important, but to my immense pleasure, the relationship between June and her best friend didn’t get overshadowed by the romance. My only real complaint was that it perhaps dragged a bit at times, but other than that I really enjoyed it! 4.5/5 stars

“Other houses have support beams and foundations. Ours has bones and a heartbeat.”

Anne of the Island (Anne of Green Gables #3): What can I say, this is the third Anne of Green Gables book I read, and so far they’ve all been delightful, funny, and overall lovely. If you’ve never tried one, you definitely should! 4/5 stars

“Oh,” she thought, “how horrible it is that people have to grow up–and marry–and change!”

I can’t believe 2017 is almost over, but to be honest, I’m as surprised every year. After all this time you’d think I’d gotten used to the idea that the year only has 12 months in it, but apparently not.

But that’s neither here nor there. Books! That’s what we were talking about. I read a few pretty good ones in October, and though there are some I didn’t get to (All the Crooked Saints!), this only means I have something to look forward to in November! ;)

If you’ve seen my previous Defacing-posts (you can find my last one here), you know 2017 was the year I got a new hobby: personalizing my own books (gasp!). For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been working on The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, and as a result, every book in the series now has galaxy edges!

I got the idea from Sea Lemon on Youtube, and if you’re interested in trying this out for yourself, I highly suggest you go watch her video. Her books look waaay nicer than mine, and she explains the whole process really well. :)

Anyway, this is how it turned out for me! Though it definitely could have gone better, I’m still very very happy with the result, and will probably paint more book edges in the future. :) I hope you like it!

I say this every time, but holy shit, defacing books is so much fun!

I’m working on a couple of different projects right now, so I’ll probably be back with more sooner rather than later. :)

3 Favourite Relationships (Romantic):

3 Favourite Relationships (Platonic):

Kara Resnik & Unnamed interviewer (Themis Files)

Vincent Couture & Eva Reyes (Themis Files)

Flora & her brothers (The Summer Seaside Kitchen)

To Be Brief…

Like a River Glorious (The Gold Seer Trilogy #2):I read the first book in this series last month, and this is, in my opinion, a pretty worthy and solid sequel. I for one enjoyed it quite a bit, and will most likely pick up the conclusion to the trilogy when it comes out next month. 4/5 stars

“Bad men are never all bad, and good men are never all good, and it makes it hard to know up from down.”

Sleeping Giants and Waking Gods (Themis Files #1 and 2): Oh man, I sure loved these two creeptastic (but also kind of hilarious) bastards! Like the fabulous Illuminae Files, this is a Sci-fi trilogy told entirely through files such as interviews and mission reports, but story-wise, that’s pretty much where the similarities end. I mean, did I mention that it has giant robots in it? Giant. Robots. Also a whole lot of snark. And kung pao chicken. Oh, and did I tell you about the fantastic characters? I cried a lot. Should be consumed in audiobook-form. 4.5/5 stars

“Generally speaking, people tend not to question what they’ve been told was true. Scientists are no different; they’ve just been told a lot more things.”

Love & Gelato: To recover from the emotional damage Waking Gods caused me, I needed an adorable contemporary ASAP. Love & Gelato, as I expected, delivered. Lina and Ren, the main couple, were really cute together, and it’s always a huge plus when a book takes place somewhere I’ve never been, but would love to visit (in this case Italy). Among some other smaller issues, I thought the “secret” was a bit too easy to figure out, and I really wish the story had taken place over a longer period of time, but overall I really enjoyed it. 4/5 stars

“No one is good at solitaire unless they cheat.”

The Summer Seaside Kitchen: My hunger for carefree contemporaries didn’t quite end with Love & Gelato, though, meaning it was time to bring out the big guns! Enter: The Chick-lit (in lack of a better term). Since I’ve already almost worked my way through the works of Sophie Kinsella (which is usually my go-to in situations like these), I decided to give Jenny Colgan a chance. That ended up being a good decision! The Summer Seaside Kitchen is a lovely and atmospheric little story that takes place on a small, fictional island in Scotland. There’s a lot of focus on family (and food!), which I found refreshing, but yes, there is some romance in it as well. :) I will definitely pick up more of Jenny Colgan’s books in the future! 4/5 stars

“Flora folded her arms and looked as if she was about to withhold cake. Fintan got up and went outside.”

Autoboyography: Wow, I really did read a lot of contemporaries this month. Autoboyography is a coming-of-age story about family and love, where religion plays a very prominent part. More specifically, religion in combination with homo/bisexuality. It had both cute and serious moments, and while it wasn’t exempt of flaws, I really liked it. I did pull an all-nighter and finished it in one sitting, which generally is a pretty good sign. 4/5 stars

“I don’t particularly relish working, but at odds with this is my other hatred of doing a shitty job at anything.”

Hunting Prince Dracula (Stalking Jack the Ripper #2): Much like when I read the first book in the series last year, I’m feeling kind of torn. I really like the main characters and their fantastic flirty banter, as well as the overall feeling of the book, but the plot itself doesn’t quite manage to capture my interest, and I had to push myself to keep reading at times. Weirdly enough, though, I’m pretty certain I’ll still pick up the next book when it comes out. What can I say, I like those characters. 3.5/5 stars

“How do you know Romanian so well?” I asked. “I was unaware you were fluent in anything other than sarcasm.”

Ah, is there anything better than a month full of good books? (just so you know, the only correct answer to that question is no)

I’m in a great place reading-wise at the moment, and I have a feeling it’ll only keep getting better. Right now I can barely contain my excitement for The Ship of the Dead and All the Crooked Saints! October, come at me!